Non Traditional Therapies For Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is one of those health related issues where there is still lot of work to be done. No wonder that there are so many therapies which are in the clinical trial phase and there are experiment s going on with them. A lot in the treatment procedure depends on the early diagnosis and imaging of mesothelioma.

If diagnosed at a later stage, there is not much that can be done with the tumor or cancer. Those who work in the construction industries, shipyards, companies that manufacture asbestos products like insulation, and heating industries are more susceptible to inhaling asbestos fibers which could eventually lead to malignant mesothelioma.

Hence doctors aware of the background of a patient are more likely to identify the common symptoms as indications. These include coughing, shortness of breath and palpitations which could be mistaken for respiratory issues. Early diagnosis through MRI scans, computed tomography scans and PET scans could help in staging treatments of the issue by spotting it as early as possible.

The common treatments of mesothelioma include surgical treatments which are palliative to reduce the pain of the symptoms or curative in the early stages when there is a chance. Radiotherapy which uses radiation from radioactive substances to identify the areas affected by the tumor or carcinogenic cells is another form of treatment. It is as affective in eradicating the issue as it is in providing temporary relief to the patient.

Chemotherapy tries to use a combination of drugs to treat the symptoms of the disease more than the disease itself. This can often result in vomiting and nausea along with other side effects for which therapists administer more medications for the side effects.

Amongst the nontraditional therapies being tried out, one of the front runners is the photodynamic therapy for pleural mesothelioma. In this method, photo sensitizer drug is first offered to the patient that makes some of the cells more sensitive to light of specific wavelengths. Through open chest surgery, fiber optic cables are inserted using which specific frequency light is passed to target the tumor cells.

The cells due to the drug produce toxic oxygen molecules that kill the cancer cells. Thus, this treatment affects only the carcinogenic cells that are spreading. The healthy cells remain unaffected. This is a great advantage when we finally get there because traditional chemotherapy treatments affect the healthy cells too.

Another therapy being tried out is the gene therapy. In this case, the tumor is targeted by suicide genes which make them sensitive to a drug which is normally ineffective. When the drug is finally administered, the tumor due to the suicide genes is destroyed by the drug. The interesting thing is that it leaves the healthy cells unaffected unlike what happens in traditional chemotherapy.

Immunotherapy is another method being tried out. This biological therapy uses the immune system of the body to fight the tumor. Known as biological response modifiers, this method is still in its infancy.

For more information on malignant mesothelioma therapies and developments to treat mesothelioma, visit mesotheliomahelp.net

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